Tonight I attended the American Institute of Architects Rhode Island design awards which were held at the Providence Public Library this year. The Library opened this classic Venetian Renaissance building in March 1900. Now on the National Register of Historic Places, the Library is a prime example of turn-of-the-century American architecture. Ground was broken in 1896 on the Library’s present location on Washington Street, and with an extraordinary gift totaling $268,500 from Rhode Island philanthropist John Nicholas Brown, the classic Renaissance building was completed at a final cost of $387,000. It was opened in March 1900 with 93,000 volumes and 39 employees. This sketch is of the West entry portal with it’s carved stone, cast iron light and beautiful mahogany woodwork. Faber-Castell Pitt pens with watercolor in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.

Thanksgiving is a day in the United States to give thanks and to celebrate with family and friends. This sketch is from a photo of the Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Plymouth is considered the birthplace of America in that it was one of the landing locations of the pilgrims. Plimoth Plantation, founded in 1947, is a  living history museum, that exhibits the original settlement of the Plymouth Colony established in the 17th century by English colonists, some of whom later became know as Pilgrims. They were among the first people who emigrated to America to avoid religious persecution and to seek religious separation from the Church of England. The re-creations are sourced from a wide variety of first and second records, accounts, articles and period paintings and artifacts, and the museum conducts ongoing research and scholarship, including historical archaeological excavation and curation locally and abroad. I tried to be more monochromatic with this sketch starting with Faber-Castell Sanguine pens with watercolors in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.